Interesting ideas.
I've thought for years that food stamps and WIC should be replaced with government soup kitchens for the truly needy. A healthful gruel of lentils, whole grain and a vegetable with a piece of fruit and a glass of milk would be offered to all comers. Recipients would be required to work for an hour on the premises doing some kind of piece work or assembly or whatever to offset the cost. The point is to save the misfortunate from starvation, but eliminate abuse and leave incentives for work. The main dietary problem of the poor is not hunger but obesity, so the current system of subsidizing junk food is the worst of all worlds.
If I remember, in the eighties Newt proposed soup kitchens and was of course demonized as heartless and cruel. But since then we've had the success of welfare reform and the obesity wave, maybe it's time for another try.
I believe Newt also proposed a return to a modernized and humanized version of orphanages, as a substitute for at least some of the pathetic segments of the foster care system.
He was demonized for that, too, but he was right.